Derek, great stuff - I'll look into it more. The specific context is that we (Local 64, a game developer group, and the regional economic development corp) have a state legislator luncheon/open house and I'd love to be able to share some stories of collaboration at the local, state, etc level. I'm not looking to reproduce anything - we have good relationships and our own footing with local government in two towns - but am looking for illustrative stories that speak to policy leadership (for example, we have prohibitive state laws around contracting we'd like to see reinvented, we're pro single payer at the state level, and there are tax structures that can be improved for teleworkers). I hope the stories I can learn from you all here will point to one thing, and one thing only: coworking communities in-state can be valued nodes for partnership, collaboration, and policy guidance. Cheers!
On Nov 4, 2012, at 4:33 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Today's Topic Summary > Group: http://groups.google.com/group/coworking/topics > > Government Support for Coworking? [1 Update] > Government for Coworking [1 Update] > Photographic proof: a coworking community is more than its space [4 Updates] > Government Support for Coworking? > Derek Neighbors <[email protected]> Nov 03 05:03PM -0700 > > Comments within... > > On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 11:56 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected] > > incredible to be able to forge personal relationships with leaders in city > > hall before asking them for things because they're USED to being asked for > > things. > > I can whole-heartedly second this. Our best relationships have come when > we have built and proven community before approaching a > municipality/agency. I think the key is to always come with solutions and > support. We are currently exploring moving cities employees into our > spaces in existing cities and talking to a few cities about actually > putting Gangplank's inside their city halls. Where half of the > collaborators will be city staff. We have found that innovation really > comes out of getting staff interacting with the community on a daily basis. > We are actively working on a grant with the Knight Foundation and a few > major universities to provide data to the engagement models we have been > playing with along with results. More to come as it unfolds. Never much > have posted in the past as I felt people were not interested in our model > because it strays pretty far from most people's concept of coworking. If > people have an interest in this sort of work I will gladly try to share > more on the work we are doing here on the list. > > -- > Derek Neighbors > http://derekneighbors.com > Mobile: 480-335-9746 > Skype: derek0108 > > Co-Founder of Gangplank : http://gangplankhq.com > Partner at Integrum Technologies : http://integrumtech.com > President of Downtown Chandler Community Partnership : > http://downtownchandler.org > > Connect With Me > Linked In : http://linkedin.com/in/dneighbors > Twitter : http://twitter.com/dneighbors > > Government for Coworking > Derek Neighbors <[email protected]> Nov 03 04:51PM -0700 > > Lars, > > > On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 4:41 AM, lars hasselblad torres > > both offer and seek support, depending on the need, opportunity, and > > context. What I'm looking for here are some stories about how those > > relationships have worked, how have the hands washed each other? > > We have multiple stories with various forms of government agencies. Are > there specifics that you want? Some of the stories are up at > http://whatisgangplankhq.com. We generally work with economic development > departments, but have probably dealt with nearly every local government > department in our work. We have had locations on university campuses > (Arizona State University and University of Utah) and actively > co-create/deliver classes with Mesa Community College while partnering for > a number of events with Chandler Gilbert Community College. > > A good example here is that, as Vermont seeks to redefine itself during a > > package these with the support of coworking spaces - the mentoring, > > networks, and reduced overhead - it can be a win. Same thing for our state > > SBA. > > We find that it is important to not be solely focused on technology, but > rather to understand a cities unique DNA. What is it's creative gene > sequence, how can you embrace that, how can you amplify it? Space is > crucial, but we find startup funding is often best left to private > industry. Education, mentorship, support, space and infrastructure are all > things government can readily provide pathways/solutions for. > > So I'm eager to hear how coworkers are tapping into governments as partners > > in this work. > > Here is a bit about the story of Gangplank - > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt0RbQS9Udo (if you want to jump right into > the government discussion go to about minute 21:00) > > If you have specific questions let me know. > > -- > Derek Neighbors > http://derekneighbors.com > Mobile: 480-335-9746 > > Co-Founder of Gangplank : http://gangplankhq.com > Partner at Integrum Technologies : http://integrumtech.com > President of Downtown Chandler Community Partnership : > http://downtownchandler.org > > Connect With Me > Linked In : http://linkedin.com/in/dneighbors > Twitter : http://twitter.com/dneighbors > > Photographic proof: a coworking community is more than its space > "Dirk Onderdonck" <[email protected]> Nov 03 02:14PM +0100 > > Tony, > > good to see that, despite of the Sandy sorrows, NWC is going well and > future-focused! > > I didn't expect it otherwise J > > Congrats and see you next week in Paris > > > > Dirk > > > > Van: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > Namens Tony Bacigalupo > Verzonden: zaterdag 3 november 2012 6:28 > Aan: coworking > Onderwerp: [Coworking] Photographic proof: a coworking community is more > than its space > > > > You know the whole adage about how a coworking community is something > that still exists even when you burn the space down? Well, I luckily > didn't have to burn New Work City's space down to prove it true. In the > aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we faced week-long outage of power, > internet and transit-- so, for all intents and purposes, we were hosed. > > > > Luckily, large parts of Brooklyn were relatively unaffected-- including > the home of the Brooklyn Brainery, an educational space run by two of > the most wonderful people I have the pleasure of knowing. They're moving > to a new space and opening a coworking space (hooray!), but for now, > their classroom space was available for use. > > > > They were kind enough to give me a key and show me how to run the space. > Before I knew it, New Work City had a temporary home in Brooklyn. I put > the word out to everyone, and it wasn't long before familiar faces were > showing up in an unfamiliar place. We peaked at about 20 people on > Thursday. > > > > New faces mixed with old, but the spirit was no different. Good coffee > was discovered. Bodegas were raided. Beers were purchased. We were very > much alive, despite our space being plunged into darkness across the > river. > > > > So far, nobody's complained; nobody's asked for a refund; nobody's been > anything but super supportive. It's given me a whole new perspective on > things. And I got to dream for a bit about having a space of my own in > Brooklyn. > > > > Cheers to community! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > Sam Rosen <[email protected]> Nov 03 09:12AM -0500 > > That's pretty rad, Tony. > > > > TCS <[email protected]> Nov 03 10:35AM -0400 > > The world of coworking gets inspired by the perseverance and true nature of > entrepreneurs. We don't give up. In fact we tend to give more when the waters > rise. (A respectful pun) > Although most of us strive to make our place operate, look and feel great, > this proves what the true draw of a genuine coworking community; belonging > trumps place of work. > Thanks Tony and we pray for all those tragically effected by Sandy. > > Chad > > Chad Ballantyne > 705.812.0689 > [email protected] > > > > > Barrie's Coworking Community > Perfect for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. > Memberships start at $25/mth > www.thecreativespace.ca > 705-812-0689 > > On 2012-11-03, at 10:12 AM, Sam Rosen wrote: > > > Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected]> Nov 03 10:58AM -0400 > > Thanks Chad & everyone! > > There is actually a very compelling story unfolding in the storm's aftermath > as not just we, but many other communities banded together to find shared > space to work in. > > Existing spaces that were unaffected by the storm like Secret Clubhouse, > Bitmap, Bat Haus, AlleyNYC stepped up in a big way and others opened up their > offices as temporary pop-up locations for displaced workers. Coworking spaces > essentially acted as a resilient infrastructure of workspaces that reshaped > themselves around the circumstances at hand. > > People displaced from affected areas found temporary respite at a workspace > within walking distance of their homes. People who, perhaps, had no power or > Internet in their homes. I don't know the scale of it, but I wouldn't be > surprised if the economic impact of Sandy on small businesses was mitigated > by this fact. > > And it relied largely on two key things: > > 1. The #sandycoworking hashtag that Charlie O'Donnell created almost > immediately after the storm hit > > 2. The http://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com site that Noel created and we > started using to aggregate known sites that were still active. > > I'm now a big fan of Crowdmap and think the above can be distilled into a > best practice for any city after a disaster. > > I'll get on that blog post at some point :) > > Tony > > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group > coworking. > You can post via email. > To unsubscribe from this group, send an empty message. > For more options, visit this group. > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
